1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a film-supplying device that is used for peeling off a pressure-sensitive adhesive-film, such as a protective film for an automobile wheel, from a release sheet to supply the pressure-sensitive adhesive-film to a film-affixing jig or device. Further, the present invention relates to a film-affixing system for the above film-supplying device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wheel for a vehicle, such as a wheel for an automobile, is shipped after affixing a protective film on its surface, so that the wheel surface is protected from damage or dirt. A pressure-sensitive adhesive-film, used for a protective film, is made from a polypropylene or polyethylene film, of which the thickness is about 20 μm to 100 μm. One side of the protective film is provided with an adhesive layer approximately 10 μm to 30 μm thick, which comprises acrylic or rubber pressure-sensitive adhesive. The adhesive layer is initially covered with a release sheet, which was subjected to treatment for peeling, and thereby protected. The release sheet is peeled off before applying the protective film to an adherend. Since protective films are extremely thin, they can not retain their shape by themselves, so that distortion and wrinkles can easily be produced in the affixing operations of a pressure-sensitive adhesive-film. Therefore, there is great difficulty in carrying out the film-affixing operations by an automaton, so that in most cases, skilled workers manually carry out the above film-affixing operations. However, in recent years, there have been some attempts to provide an automaton for affixing protective film to a wheel. For example, such a system is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open patent publications (KOKAI) Nos. 7-323953 and 7-40434.